Glory of Life
by AimeeHolly27
Summary: The Spartans bred the strongest warriors throughout the world. And their women were no less than that. Their women could defend themselves and their families if needs be. But one women went above and beyond. But what if duty conflicted with the heart? AstinosxOC
1. Prologue

Sparta was where it all happened. I suppose it could have only been that way. The Spartans were renowned for being the strongest, and ultimately victorious, force in the world. And we were. With our words of 'No retreat' and the constant wish for a 'Perfect death', we were the perfect battle force. Our knowledge of battle tactics were unchallenged by any and we had the confidence to use the terrain around us to aid our efforts. But most of all, we all believed that the gods were on our side.

I was raised to believe that. To believe that if we appeased the gods in their splendor, they would bless us with victory upon victory. To believe that the gods would never abandon the Spartans, nor the greeks. Even the child-loving Athenians. I was raised to respect and love the gods that sat and watched our lives. The gods that were the blame for most of our wars and struggles. But most of all, I was raised to be among the strongest. I was raised to not surrender, to not take no for an answer. I was a Spartan.

Spartan girls were not segregated as they were in the rest of Greece. In Athens, the women were immediately lower than their brothers. A girl could not own land or claim a title. Women were seen but rarely heard. But not in Sparta. The women were as strong as their brothers. A girl could own her own land and claim her own title. A woman was the mother of Spartan soldiers and heroes. A woman as much a hero as her sons. I grew up in that. Spartan girls were involved in gymnastics and sports; together with other subjects such as music, writing and war education. To us, the traits such as grace and culture were frowned upon in favor of physical tempering and moral rectitude. We were not simply to lay down and let the men walk over us. We were taught to defend ourselves if the time came. That was where my childhood was different.

All Spartan boys partook in Agoge. But my mother and father weren't content to allow me to not experience the same. My mother was Clio, a strong woman who had faced enemies at my father's side. My father would often liken her to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. It gave Stelios and I a sense of pride in who we were. And my father was no less of a warrior than my mother. His shield was dented and broken, his helmet scratched and marked with the scars of battle. He would often tell of us of the bloodlust that captures the heart of men. We would sit and listen in awe.

The sun was dim across Sparta that morning. The wheat swayed in the winds sent by the four wind 's sun scattered along the houses and painted the streets. I can remember hearing my mother and father whispering on the steps of the house. The pain still struck on my mother's face of five months away from my elder brother, Stelios. Now aged seven, he was taken like the rest. I can remember the pang in my heart as I watched the tear roll down my mother's cheek as she fought. She was a warrior, but a warrior protects her family… And she could no longer protect her son.

"I think it's time you started with your daughter." I heard my mother's voice become harsh with those words. But something about it excited me. I knew what she mean't by those words. It meant that she wasn't going to be losing another child.

"I know. I'll be back soon." The monotonous voice of my father uttered. I could hear him leave till his footsteps disappeared into the silence of my mother's breaths.

"Eulalia, are you awake?" My mother whispered in her softer tone as I saw her head peak around the open doorway that was only covered by a thin sheet of blue. Her dark eyes rested upon me with a growing smile. Her frame was thin, you could see the marks of her bones along her collar. But you could also see the muscles that moulder her stomach and her arms. She was the perfect Spartan lady.

"Make sure that you are ready for your father's return, he's got a surprise for you." She said in a smile.

I can remember how I nodded toward her with the smile spreading from ear to ear. My small frame rising from the straw bed with my petite fingers reaching for the linen cloth that would later cloud my immature figure. I was six years old at the time. No semblance of womanhood on my body. But, over the years, countless people have told me of the beauty that would emanate from my mother and the strength from my father.

I found myself sat upon the steps of our house with my chin in my hand, staring off into the fields. I watched as the reeds danced with the winds. I dreamt of Stelios, of the training that he would be enduring at that same time. But I could not imagine it.

"Eulalia." A familiar voice called from behind. My small frame span around to see my father's face, soft and scarred. His brown hair lay shaggy at his shoulders and his jaw was freckled with specks of unkempt stubble. But his smile was gentle. "Are you ready?" He whispered. I can remember nodding frantically, running down the street behind him with curls of blonde floating behind me. Nobody knew where my golden locks came from. My mother had called it a blessing from Apollo as soon as she saw it. And she did love to remind me of it.

The field presented a small strip of land that had made way for a small army earlier that year. The crops were trampled and dead, now coloured by the earth beneath. But a single tree stood tall. The other children liked to whisper about the tree. All alone, yet tall and strong. Some claimed that there was a nymph living within the tree that protected Sparta and her children, but others claimed that it was placed there by Hera. I did not know which to believe, but the tree never seemed to cease it's dancing.

My father stood short beside the vast tree, his coarse fingers gripping a linen sheet.

"Your mother and I felt that it was time that you started to learn, just like Stelios." He whispered as his muscled figure crouched to my level. His digits gripped the linen sheet, withdrawing it from what lay beneath.

"Starting simple." He added as my orbs rested upon the wooden sword that rested along his paw.

"Our little warrior." He smiled, watching as my svelte fingers inched closer till they ran delicately along the wooden blade.

"It's beautiful." I stuttered in a hushed voice. I could see his smile. To this day, nothing matched that smile. Small fingers clung to the hilt of the blade that replicated the sword of my father, this grip smooth wood at that point.

I can remember the sound of the clashing wood. I can remember the feel of the dirt on my skin everytime that I fell to the ground beneath. But, most of all, I can remember the love and pride for what I was doing. I was learning as my brother was. I was becoming a warrior. I was becoming a Spartan.


	2. Chapter One - Allies

That wooden blade rarely left my side. In reality, it was probably a twig that father had found on his travels that he had crafted whilst I wasn't around, but it felt special. I can remember spending hours in that field with my father. I can remember spending hours in that field without my father. Sometimes, my mother would make her way down with her proud smile and she would sit beneath the tree with eagle eyes. I would end the day with bruises, cuts and blisters on my hands and feet… But I loved it nonetheless. It was my training.

"Keep your feet shoulder-width apart." My mother snapped from her seat beneath the tree. And with the nod of my head, I took the correct position with my father facing me. His wooden blade was the same size, but he had spent the time to decorate the hilt of the blade with patterns and words that were sacred to him.

His built frame would lunge forward and I would parry his advance to the side, sometimes making my own strike at his vulnerable areas. Being the smaller, I had the speed and nimble abilities. But he had the strength, and he exercised it.

"Do you think Stelios is learning how to fight?" I remember asking. My sword had leaped forward, leaving enough of my frame open for my father to sweep my lunged leg out from beneath me. My body went tumbling till I crashed to the floor with my teeth gritting. I glanced up toward my father who was grinning down to me with gentle eyes.

"Is that how your family treats it's women?" A voice shouted. My small frame fidgeted on my ground till I sat on my knees with the blade in hand. A tall may with shaggy hair, darker than my father's, walked toward us with a grin on his lips.

"Well it's how we treat our sons, so why treat them any different?" My mother chuckled as she raised to her feet with a wide smile on her lips. The man glanced down to my frame with a half smile as he wandered closer to my mother and father. "It's good to see you, Artemis." My mother sighed as her arms slithered around the man.

My father's dark orbs glanced toward me with a sharpening face as I struggled to my feet. The blade tight within my grip as I stared toward the stranger.

"Eulalia, this is Artemis." My father muttered with fingers pointing toward the stranger. His large frame turned to me with the same smile before he slowly began to shuffle closer and closer toward my position.

"Nice to finally meet you, Eulalia. You must me, what, five?" He whispered as he lowered to my height. My head shook with silence, no words wanting to leave my lips till my mother gave me a reassuring nod.

"I'm six." I snapped with confidence, my frame rising to it's full height, which wasn't tall at all. But his head nodded as a small gasp trickled through his parted lips.

"Younger than my first son, but probably taller." Artemis laughed in a hushed voice. I could feel the smile as it slipped onto my lips. My blonde hair cascading over my shoulders as I thrust the sword toward him. "And probably a better swordsman." He added. I can still remember how those words felt like a victory to six year old me. I can remember running to my father to repeat the words that Artemis had just uttered, and then to my mother. All the while, Artemis was smiling.

"Maybe Eulalia can help your son." My mother suggested as she caught me in her arms. I felt my head begin to nod once again, my orbs moving straight to Artemis with hope dancing within them. The only people that I had to practise with were my mother and father. The other children in Sparta, especially the girls, were too busy playing to join in. But Artemis assured me that his son, Astinos wanted to learn to fight. He was six, almost seven by then, but he was ready to learn.

"How about you go with Artemis now to see him?" Father muttered as he moved closer to mother and myself. "If that is fine with Artemis, of course." Father added, but Artemis was already nodding. His smile still present upon his lips.

"Of course she may. Astinos will, no doubt, be pestering his mother." Artemis chuckled. I felt the wave of excitement wash over me as my mother lowered me to the dry earth. Her lips planting a gentle kiss upon my forehead before her arms ushered me toward the new acquaintance.

The home was very similar to our own. The stone was pale and the doorway was open. I could hear the quiet chatter from within as Artemis led me up the steps into the main room.

"Father!" I heard the voice of a young boy shout. He ran out, his dark hair bobbing with each step. He wore the normal dress for a Spartan boy and his tanned skin was already scarred on his shoulder. His knees were scrapped, probably from playing with the other Spartan children. His dark eyes eventually fell upon me. My fingers playing with the thin linen that clung to my body whilst my teeth nibbled along my lower lip.

"Astinos, this is Eulalia." Artemis muttered. His son continued to look in my direction with a mix of curiosity and confused in his eyes. "You remember Stelios?" He whispered. The young boy nodded at his father's words, glancing momentarily to him.

"Stelios' sister?" The young boy gasped with a grin spreading across his face. Artemis nodded, glancing back to me with smile. His mother appeared in the corner of the room with her arms crossed across her chest.

"Doesn't she look like Stelios." She laughed, her orbs caught on me in fascination. Meanwhile, her son had began to move, leaving his father's side till he was inches away from. With his eyes gazing at the two wooden swords in the belt that clung to my waist.

"Ariston thought you two might like to practice together." Artemis prompted, my nervous eyes connect with his before he gave a nod toward me. I allowed my thin fingers to move to the two swords, taking mine out. The blade in my hand slowly extended toward the boy in front of me. Astinos took it in the blink of an eye with the widest smile spread across his lips. The other wooden blade, my father's, found it's way into my grip. I felt my fingers slipping along the carvings of the hilt with a wave of confidence washing over me.

"Shall we go to the nymph tree?" I finally spoke with a mask of confidence. The young boy flinched at the final sound of my words, his smile spreading to stretch from ear to ear.

We ran down to the wheat field with wooden blade in hand, his speed matching mine almost perfectly. Skidding to a halt directly below the tree, his dark orbs came to fall upon me once more. The same smile still upon his lips as he gazed toward my small frame.

"Do you miss Stelios?" He questioned before he made his first swing. My wooden sword connected with his, tapping it to the side with ease. I had spent six months away from my elder brother, and I knew that Astinos was only two months away from that age. He would be leaving soon.

"I suppose that I do, you just have to keep it out of your mind." I muttered, lunging toward him. The lunge taped against his arm with a sly grin. Astinos giggled as he looked toward me in playful shock.

"Father says that I leave in two months." He mumbled with a frown. He sighed gently, dropping to the ground in front of me. "It's almost ten full years away from my home and my family." He continued. Something about his words reminded me of Stelios before he left. The sadness mixed with the excitement. Stelios didn't know how he should feel about the situation, probably because of mother.


	3. Chapter Two - Temporary Farewell

Those two months passed, in what felt like, the beat of a heart. Astinos would stumble to my home every morning and he would let himself into the building. I would be woken up by a weight kicking against the bottom of the bed, and there he would be. Astinos would be stood, wooden swords in hand with a toothy grin on his face.

"Come on, Eulalia." He would whisper. He would then throw the wooden sword onto my curled frame and stand patiently for signs of movement. On the mornings where I persisted to stay within the warmth of the bed, his little feet would continue to kick at the mattress until I gave up.

He would leave the room for a split second to allow me to dress with the thin linen and the belt before he would rush straight back in and tug me from my home and down to the field. He would proceed to chop and slash till the sun showed signs of tiring. Occasionally, he would sit at the bottom of the tree and tell me everything. Everything about how he was feeling, about how he was worried about Agoge, worried about shaming his father.

"You need to stop worrying. You're going to do fine." I would assure him, countless times. He would smile in my direction before leaping to his feet and continue to slash in my direction.

I was dreading the day that he would be taken. My best friend. My only friend. But I had no way of preventing it. I just wished that it didn't happen when it did.

It was early in Metageitnion, almost Carneia. The sky was dark at the time, a dull dusk across the Spartan sky. We sat at the nymph tree, Astinos and I. The wooden swords at our feet, beads of sweat at our brows. I saw my mother wander into the field with hundreds of men and women at her back.

"Mother!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, stumbling to my feet as I ran toward her with flailing arms. "Where are you going?" I whimpered as my body smashed into her. Her muscled arms moved down to embrace my frame with a small frown spreading across her lips.

"I have to go away from a while, I won't be long." She whispered, planting a kiss on the tip of my crown before she straightened up. "Your father will take care of you." She added. Her fingers carefully untangled my grip before she continued, leaving me alone on the path with Astinos running to join me in confusion.

Twenty day tiptoed by, and still no sign of the group that had left under the lead of my mother. Father had began to pace around the house with his paw against his brow. He would leave early and make his patrol around the field with Artemis at his side. The two of them were now patrol partners, often whispering about the two children that would sit beneath the nymph tree everyday with wooden swords. Astinos and I.

Astinos would stay quiet for most of the time. I think he could see the worry on my face, he knew that I was in no state to be practicing.

Another ten days crawled past. I was forced to watch as my father span further and further into desperation. The sleepless nights. The lack of eating. His patrols became fragmented. Artemis would often wander out of the city gates alone, his eyes searching for us in the high wheat whilst we searched hopefully for my mother. But there was no sign. No sign of her, nor her party. We were forced to stay in the dark.

I had almost lost count of the numbers of days. The repetitive 'She will come home' had began to take it's toll. But Astinos was there nonetheless. His morning routine never faltered. Although, some mornings he would take the grumbles and would sit at the foot of the strawbed. He could sit there for hours just listening. Of course, I should have been listening to him too… But that never crossed my mind.

"Come on, Eula." He sighed, holding my hand tight as he tugged me to sit beside him on the steps of his home. I could hear his father inside, moving around with the occasional sigh.

"Eula, it's my birthday." He beamed, clapping his hands in delight. I allowed the small smile to slip onto my lips, but It could not last for long. His mother had given him the short necklace that clung to his collar, bearing a small tooth from an animal pelt this Artemis had retrieved. Astinos held in within his fingers as he spoke with joy on his face.

"But you're seven now… They're going to take you away." I finally whimpered. I could feel how my face flushed a shade of pink. His orbs edged toward me with a sense of fear washing over them.

"But I will be coming back." He whispered confidently. It took everything to believe that. "Its only ten years." He sighed with the sting of sarcasm. I glanced toward him with waterlocked eyes. I was going to lose my best friend. I was going to lose Astinos at the very time when I needed him.

"Astinos." We heard Artemis speak. Both of us snapping to our feet as his father walked out of the house. But his eyes were not upon us… They lay upon the two men that were slowly walking closer and closer to us. Thats when the tears broke through. I felt a small hand around my wrist as he clung to me, one last time.

I could not stop as I began to whimper the same word over and over. No. Thats all that came from my lips. No. Repeated to exhaustion as Artemis pulled me from my feet and held me back from chasing his.

"You can't stop this, Eulalia." He whispered, holding my frame close.

I lost two people. One would, eventually, return. The other, as we later discovered, was gone to the depths forever.


	4. Chapter Three - Returned

That was ten years ago. The disappearance of my mother. The departure of my best friend, Astinos. A great amount happened in those following ten years.

My father led the search party for my mother after, what felt like, months to find her. And he did. He found her mangled body on the side of track, surrounded by hundreds of other desecrated corpses. He carried her corpse home from that patrol. Her skin marked with the cuts and bruises of a mighty battle. But that was not all. They had defiled the corpses in other ways. Ways that I only understood with age. But their murders had no honor that day.

I can remember the bloodlust my father had after that journey. The fury in his eyes for the following months, even numbering a year. He was, even to this day, changed from then. My father was no longer himself.

Even when he encountered her. The mother of his youngest children. Xanthe. The mother of my brother and sister could not coax him back.

Of course, I had changed also in those passing years. I grew into a woman, attracting the eyes of men and the jealousy of women. I was educated in the Spartan ways. But I was also educated in the ways of war. The sword became my pen and the bow became my poetry. I was my mother's daughter.

Artemis still kept me close, almost taking the role of father in my life. His wife had also produced more sons since Astinos. Artemis now had two young boys and two young girls to fill his time. One of the boys had already found himself at age seven, whilst the other was only four. I had been there for them in their childhoods, especially for the youngest male, Alexios. He clung to my like ivy to a tree. But I could never take my mind off the lightness to Astinos.

I found myself sat beneath the same tree that had filled my childhood, the nymph tree, watching two children that induced the thought of so many memories. All filled with the young boy that had managed to complete my six years in a matter of months. The two boys, Alexios and Theron, ran around the tree swinging two wooden swords. One carved beautifully with patterns, whilst the other sport a childish decoration… The two wooden blades of my childhood. Everything about that moment seemed somewhat sentimental. The only thing missing was him. Astinos.

"Eula, can you be the monster?" Alexios giggled as he ran toward me with the familiar toothy grin. His words forced my gaze away from the earth below to the young, brown haired boy before me. Behind him stood the little blonde haired boy that was constantly being mistaken for my own son. Theron, my baby brother at five years old, stood with a dirt-covered face and gleaming blue eyes.

"Me? A monster?" I gasped with a playful smile. Alexios giggled again, running away at the sight of my smile. My hands pushed against the bark of the tree as I stumbled to my feet after the two young boys. Both standing together as they struggled to lift the two square chunks of wood that would serve as their shields.

"I'm going to gobble you both up." I snarled as I dragged my feet closer and closer to the little boys. Theron, being the older of the two, was the commander. And with his immature voice, he gave the commands. At his word, the two boys lowered to lock their wooden shields with their wooden swords poking over the top.

"Kill the beast." Theron commanded with wide eyes. I stopped in my tracks, watching the two boys with a grin upon my broken lips. "Attack!" And the two boys charged. My body bracing for the crash of the shields and the jabs of the flat tips of the wooden blades.

Their bodies smashed into my frame, knocking me back a few steps till I gained my footing and started to push back. I could hear the strained groans from the two young boys as they pushed with all their strength against the wooden shields.

With one well timed push, the two children pushed with the strength to push me back once more. And, with some good theatrics, I fell to the ground.

"The beast has fallen, kill it!" Alexios cried out with a grin. The two boys dropping their shields as they leaped onto my fallen figure. Their flattened, wooden blades jabbing at my frame till I gave one last dramatic breath and drifted my eyes to a close.

"The beast is defeated!" Alexios giggled. My frame stayed frozen with eyes still firmly shut.

"Eula?" Theron whispered as one of the two bodies slipping off of my frame. "Eula, wake up." He cried again, poking at my frame with his hands till his pokes turned to shakes. "Eula, we were just playing." He whimpered.

My body sat up sharply, snatching the frame of Theron into a tight embrace. Alexios stood at the foot of the tree, swinging around as he clung to the trunk.

"Can you teach me to fight, Eula?" Theron whispered into my ear as he cuddled close. With a gentle release, my head gave a nod in his direction. His lips curving into a wider smile.

"Eula… Someone is coming." Alexios uttered as he ran back to my side. My eyes snapped away from the brother in my arms to the body appearing from the shadow of the mountain. My hands carefully pushed Theron's little body away as I rose to my feet.

"Theron, take Alexios back to the city." I snapped. Theron looked to me with wide, teary eyes. "Now. Go." I shouted, pushing their small frames toward the city as I snatched the bow and sheath of arrows from the foot of the tree.

With an arrow docked on the string, the stranger came nearer and nearer till I could vaguely make out their features.

He was tall. Muscles covering his tanned skin. With dark hair and dark orbs hidden beneath the Spartan helmet. Something new, but also something familiar.

"Name yourself, stranger." I growled, pulling the string of the bow to my cheek with the arrow firmly docked. The man froze. His frame lowering as he lowered his shield to the ground. His large hands raised then, moving to the helmet that covered his features before it joined the shield on the ground.

"Name yourself." I repeated in a stern snap. His bark-coloured eyes gazed towards me in a confusion of emotions. A dash of shock, surprise and confusion… But also, what seemed to be, a dash of awe.

The stranger took another step forward. A smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he stared, dazed toward me.

"You knew me once." He said, never removing his eyes. My fingers clung to the bow, not relaxing at the sound of his voice. But even that seemed familiar.

"What?"

"You knew me once." He repeated, taking another step toward me. My frame took an instinctive step back, raising the aim to his gaze. "Think about it." He muttered as his hands raised.

My mind was everywhere. You knew me once? What was that supposed to mean? He words repeated again, each time taking a small step toward me till he stood less than two meters away.

"Have you forgotten me already, Eulalia?" The stranger said in a hushed voice. His voice speaking my name causing me to flinch and the bow to lower.

And then, it hit me.

"Astinos?" I said in, what sounded like, a whimper. His lips turned to a smile as his head nodded, his hair moving with the nod.

In the blink of an eye, the bow was thrown to the floor as my figure leaping into his. I felt how his muscled arms caught my frame and pulled me into an embrace. My arms clung to his shoulders as my legs curled around his waist.

"I told you that I would come back."


	5. Chapter Four - Swordplay

Astinos' P.O.V

Ten years of intensive, Spartan training was over. Not a day had gone past that I wasn't thinking of what I had left behind and what I had missed in my absence. Ten years was an awfully long time.

The walk back to the Spartan city was a long one that curled down the mountain pass. But, for the entire journey, I could see the field that had filled the two months that meant the most. The field that I had spent my time with my best friend. Eulalia. Was she still in Sparta? Would she look different, be different or be entirely the same? Would she even remember me?

Finally at the bottom of the mountain path, I could see the flat walk through the wheat field to the city. And I could hear the faint giggle of children. I could see the occasional movement of the tall crop. And I could see the nymph tree.

The nearer that I got, the more the nerves tugged at the strings of my heart. Then, from the shadow of the mountain, I saw her… A face that I recognised in an instant. It was her.

"Name yourself, stranger." I heard her shout as the bow in her grip was trained to my frame. I knew her all too well to know that she would fire that arrow. So I stopped, lowering as I planted the shield to ground below. Next the helmet. My fingers moved up, curling around the face-piece of the helmet as I tugged it away from my face and placed it upon the shield.

"Name yourself." Eulalia repeated in a stern snap.

I couldn't help but take a small step toward her as my eyes admired every inch of the woman that she had become. A smile tugging at the corner of my lips as i stared, dazed toward her.

"You knew me once." I said.

"What?"

"You knew me once." I repeated, taking another step toward her. I watched as her frame took an instinctive step back. "Think about it." I muttered as my paws peacefully raised.

My words repeated again, each time taking a small step toward her till she stood less than two meters away.

"Have you forgotten me already, Eulalia?" I allowed myself to say in a hushed voice.

I saw the change in her features as it hit her.

"Astinos?" I heard her say. Her bow was thrown to the floor as she leaped into my grip, my muscled arms catching her frame.

"I told you that I would come back."

I admit, I could hardly take my eyes off of her. When I left, she was a child. Immature and flat with no signs of the lady that she could become. But now? She was curved, and muscled with blonde cascades and blue orbs like the ocean. She had grown more beautiful than I ever could have imagined.

We walked through the city, the shield and helmet in my hand as I followed Eulalia's lead. Her long bow held to her frame whilst her fingers clung to the sheath of arrows. And, at a home that I recognised too well, I watched my father emerge.

"Astinos." He immediately said. His frame tumbling down the steps till his hands slapped against my back. "You're finally home." He sighed.

"It's good to be home, father." I muttered in return, my hand repeating the actions of my father.

"And I see that you found Eula." He smirked, his eyes flicking from her to me. The grin saying all that It needed to. "Alexios and Theron came running back saying that you had a man at arrow point. I wouldn't have guessed that it would have been my own son." My father added. My brow raised, glancing into the house at two faces that peered out from behind the white marble.

"Come on out, Alexios." Eula sighed, her hand reaching out toward one of the two boys. As soon as he left the shadow, I could see who this child was. "Time to meet your brother." She added as the clung to her arm. His eyes were dark and his hair was too. He looked just like me.

"I'll see if I can find the your sisters." My father groaned, spinning on his heels before he stalked off into the home.

"How much have I missed, Eula?" I chuckled, my body lowering into a crouch as I looked toward the anxious child. "It's nice to finally meet my little brother, I see that my friend has been taking care of you." I whispered. His little head began to nod, his brown hair swinging with the movements. Slowly, he emerged from her shadow till he moved toward me with arms outstretched.

"Theron, maybe you should go and find father?" Eula whispered as the other boy slipped from the shadows. He was short, with blonde hair and blue eyes like the ocean. He was noticeably her brother. The young boy nodded his head before running off toward the centre of the city.

Dusk had fallen by the time that the reintroductions were over. I had my fill of embracing relatives and discovering new siblings. Two brothers and two sisters was not what I had expected. But I suppose it was Eulalia's situation that I had least expected. She had told me of her mother. Of the new woman that had given Ariston two children. But of the effect that Clio's death had created upon him.

That night, I was below familiar stars in a familiar field with familiar company. My back rested against the trunk of the nymph tree with Eula sat beside me with her blue orbs staring off into the distance. On countless occasions, I found myself staring toward her flawless skin. She wore white linen that hugged to her torso with a leather strip that held it in place, but her stomach was bare. I could see the small scars from her father's training routines or just her own accidents. But she still looked flawless to me.

"So, how is your work with the sword now?" I teased in a whisper. Her gaze snapped around with a smirk curling into her lips. Nobody could miss the Spartan blade that sat at her hip. The Spartan blade of her mother.

"Get off your ass and I suppose we'll see." She laughed, her arms nudging against my frame. Of course I took that challenge. My built figure rose, while my hand stretched toward her as I helped her to her feet. My hand drew the sword from it's sheath as I watched her closely. Eula was too busy brushing the dirt from the linen to notice.

But her sword was drawn in the blink of an eye. The blade span at her hip as we found ourselves circling at the foot of the nymph tree. She lunged first, striking toward my arm which was easily tapped away. She saw the opportunity in that, her frame moving forward to crash into me with force. I stumbled back, my hand moving to steady myself… My hand planting onto the bare of her stomach. Her body froze, glancing behind her shoulder to meet my gaze. I could feel the breath as it trickled past my lips.

I was lost in the moment. But her arm came crashing back, knocking the air from my lips in one move.

"Oh, that's cheating." I laughed, hunching over as I attempted to catch a breath. Her head shook with the smile on her lips. My blade moved, smashing against her sword with a spine chilling sound. Her blade smacked it to the side, giving me room to snatch her arm as I flipped her figure over my shoulder and to the ground. She yelped as her back hit the ground. Her eyes closed as I glanced down to her with a victorious grin.

"I think that I win that?" I whispered, leaning down with my hands resting on my bare knees.

Her orbs inched open, staring up to me with a brow raising.

"Oh yeah?" She questioned. I couldn't get a word in before her leg came spinning around as she knocked my feet out from beneath me.

I fell forward, crashing down onto her frame. I could hear her wheezing laugh as I slowly moved onto my knees, straddling her hips.

No words were exchanged at that moment. Just silence. Just eye contact. One hand moved to her features. Gently landing upon her cheek, my fingers tracing her jaw as my thumb drew circles on her cheek. Her orbs was connected with mine as her teeth bit down on her lip. Her body shuffled as her hand raised. Eula's fingers gripping the brooch at my neck as she tugged me lower… And her lips crashed upon mine.

It was an explosion of emotion. Our lips dancing as my hands lowered, moving to the slither of bare skin at her stomach. My thumb tracing patterns along her skin as my fingers held her hips. I could hear the quiet moan as it rippled through our lips. I felt her hand rise as she gently pushed against my chest.

I pulled away, looking down at the woman below me. She was still sporting the smile that I had once admired as a friend, but now admired as more. "I can't." She sighed. My frame slipped from her waist, sitting beside her as I silently watched the smile on her lips.

"This is your decision. If you're not with it, then we don't follow it up." I whispered, planting a final kiss to her brow. She shuffled around, pushing my frame to the ground as she curled close to my side with my arm around her. I watched her orbs close with beautifully gentle features.


	6. Chapter Five - Together

Eulalia's P.O.V

What had happened that night, I could have hardly comprehended. My childhood best friend, and now my lover?

I woke that morning in his arms. My frame tight held close to his muscular figure as he silently slept beneath Apollo's dazzling sun. I had to admit, something about it made the heart within my breast skip it's beat. His tanned skin in the gentle light. His large hand against the bare skin of my waist. The way his hair lay against his cheek. And so, I found myself staring.

His large frame began to stir, a deep breath trickling through his lips as his frame shuffled around. A quiet groan followed his breath till his orbs began to peak open.

"Why are you staring?" Astinos yawned. I felt his fingers as they careful squeezed at the flesh of my waist. His dark eyes seemed to stick upon me, with a toothy grin moving onto his features.

"No answer?" He teased, continuing to prod at my flesh till I allowed a small giggle to sound. His head shook with the same smile as he glanced away to the dancing crops.

"We should get back to the city." I sighed, my svelte frame shifting to sit beside his resting body. At the sound of my words, his arms moved to conceal his features with another groan leaving his throat.

"Can't we just stay here?" He muttered. I felt the touch of his hand on my leg as he began to shuffle around, moving to sit with his back against the nymph tree.

"I'd rather just stay here." He nodded.

I could see the city as it started to wake. Merchants were stocking their stands as women began to leave their homes with children running behind them. The courtyards were filling with the clashing of blades and the grunting of young men, while young boys played with sticks and twigs.

We wandered through the city as it buzzed with life. Astinos walking at my side with wide eyes as he slowly adjusted back into the liveliness of Sparta.

"I should probably go to see my family." I sighed as we paused in the central square. The merchants shouted of their deals from all corners whilst the crowds flocked in to buy their wares. Astinos gave a solemn nod as he gazed down at my frame.

"I'll come and see you later." I added. He nodded again, his eyes moving to avoid my gaze. The frown on my lips did not last for long. My frame rose onto the tips of my toes, my hands planting onto his massive shoulders and my lips pecked against his tanned cheek. I could see the pink flush as it spread across his tanned cheeks followed by the small hint of a smile.

The walk to my home was a silent one. Few spared a glance toward me, even fewer spared their words. But at the steps of my home, simple faces sat with small smiles.

"Long night?" Helene, the mother of my siblings, teased with a sly grin on her features. I could hear the children screaming inside the walls as they ran and fought.

"Your father is with the captain." She added, noticing the anxious look upon my face. Her delicate fingers pointed toward the home that I knew so well. The captain, once known to me as Artemis.

Two men sat within the largest room of Artemis' household whilst the three children clung to a frame as strong as a bear. My father and Artemis sat at a large table that was littered with wine and bowls of fruit. And Astinos stood in the courtyard with Alexios and his sisters attached to his legs. All the while, I sat upon the steps with my eyes upon the playing siblings but ears tuned to the conversation within the home.

"It is good to see your son home. He has grown beyond belief." I heard my father chuckle as his dark orbs glanced from the table. Even now, you could still see the agony within.

"Astinos has already grown attached to your daughter I see."

"Did you expect anything else?" The familiar voice laughed again. I could feel the gaze of both men fall upon my sitting body as I watched the children laugh and play.

"She is almost at marriage age now." I heard my father's voice croak. I felt the shiver run along my spine at those words. Committing to a single man for the rest of my days was not what kept me awake at night, It was the fear that the man I was committed to would never come home. We were Spartans, to surrender was a disgrace. And the Spartan way was to wish for the 'perfect death'.

"How many marriage proposals so far?" Artemis teased. Alexios, his youngest son, collapsed at my feet as he tugged at the linen dress. He sat beside my foot, his small head resting against my knee with a deep exhale.

"More than I would have wanted." My father groaned. I allowed my orbs to peak around as I looked toward my father and Artemis. My father's head rested in his hand with the solemn frown on his face.

"What would Clio have wanted?" He sighed, glancing toward me as his gaze came to meet my own. I watched his frame straighten at the sight of my orbs.

"She would have wanted you to do the best thing for Eulalia." Captain Artemis muttered with his gaze following my father's to meet mine. I felt another frame drop beside mine. Astinos. His eyes tearing aware my stare till I looked upon his dark brown beam. His chapped and broken lips immediately curving into a gentle smile.

"Best for Eula?" My father scoffed. "Best for Eula is to let her decide."

Three words circled throughout my mind at those words. Three words that I hold to, and forever will. I already have.

Months had passed since that day. Since the day that Artemis and my father spoke of my, very soon, need for a husband. Astinos had grown a year older by then. As had Theron, my brother, who had since left for agoge. It was a painful day for all, especially Alexios who found himself without a friend. I saw so much of myself in that boy. He was alone, upset and yearning for a friend.

"Eula, can I talk to you?" A voice whispered through the darkness. My frame sat up sharply in the wooden frame bed with the thin blanket around my bare frame. Astinos stood in the darkness. He swung around the open door with his grey cloak swinging.

"I'm really sorry about this, but it can't wait." He muttered as he came to sit at the foot of the bed with his solemn gaze caught upon me.

"Tell me what's wrong." I sighed, holding the thin sheet tight around my body as I sat watching him. Astinos' dark orbs trailed along the outline of my frame with a sharp exhale.

"I am Spartan warrior, I know how I should act and how I should feel… But there is something that I can't ignore." He sighed with his eyes moving to avoid my gaze. I fell silent as my teeth began to nibble along my lower lip.

"You're not making sense, Astinos."

"We're taught not to show emotion." He groaned, his body rocking back with his words as his head rolled forward. His dark orbs continued to avoid my gaze.

"Slow down. Jus- Where are you going with this?" I whispered, my small hand moving to rest upon his arm with my thumb drawing gentle circles.

No words left Astinos. Instead his frame moved. His large paw snatching my arm as he tugged me closer, Astinos' lips crashing onto my own. I felt my eye widen for a split second before my frame softened against his muscles. A wave of emotion seemed to wash over as a wave of hurt washed away.

Astinos pulled away almost as quickly as he initiated the kiss with his forehead against my own.

"I'm supposed to ignore emotion… But I love you." He said in a hushed whimper. His paw moving to cup my cheek as his thumb danced over my skin.

I felt my skin prickle at those words.

"I've never felt like this with anyone else." Astinos added, his dark eyes closing to a peaceful face.

What did I feel? Deep down, I think I knew. I knew that I loved him.

"I…" I felt myself freeze. His eyes snapping open at the first sound of my voice. "I love you too." I finished with an inkling of a smile wriggling onto my lips.

Astinos' lips curved into a wide smile as I finished. His fingers tugging my face closer to peck another kiss to my lips.

"Eulalia, Your father has been speaking to mine. He wants you to marry soon…" Astinos' words trailed off for the moment, looking to me with a solemn look upon my face. "I want the honour of being that man."


	7. Chapter Six - First Threat

Two years had passed. Two long years since Astinos' supposed proposal. And, as was expected, my father was taken by the idea of my marriage to the son of his best friend. As was Artemis. Both found themselves swearing that they had predicted the events from when we were children, but I personally doubted truth in those promises.

I supposed that I married younger than some of the Spartan women. I had only just turned eighteen and I was already a wife. I can remember the pride in the eyes of my father that day. The way that constantly spoke of my mother, and the way that he drank himself into oblivion beside Artemis.

It wasn't long after that when I was to fall pregnant. The joy on Astinos' face the moment that I told him. I can remember how Astinos held me in that moment, his hand on my barely showing stomach. I can remember falling to my knees at the foot of the nymph tree as I spoke to the sky for my mother. And I can remember sitting beside my husband as he reeled through the names that he wanted for our child. But it was not a child. It was two.

Nine months later, we were blessed by the gods with two healthy and strong sons. Nikias and Dareious.

But that was all months before it happened. Before the heads of dead kings were brought into our city. Before the future of Sparta was decided.

Their horses tumbled from the breast of the hill as they sped toward the city of Sparta. All the men covered from head to toe in bright cloth except for a small strip across their eyes. All men but one. His skin was as dark as the sky that held the full moon in her place. But his cloth was shining like gold beneath Apollo's sun. Their horses carried them along the dirt path till they came into the courtyard that was littered soldiers. The man's horse backed onto its hind legs as his hand dipped into a large bag and revealed his hoard. The heads of dead kings.

In the royal courtyard, I found myself stood beside a woman who I would have described as a close friend. Queen Gorgo. Her arms crossed her chest as she watched her son fight with her husband, King Leonidas. The small smile on his face as he tried his best to dislodge the footing of his father.

"How is your son, he starts the agoge next year?" I asked. The queen's orbs leaving her son as she looked toward me with a solemn nod. From a mother to a mother, I could see the pain and fear in her eyes. Some never returned from the agoge. I was lucky enough that my elder brother, Stelios, had returned but many lost brothers and sons to it.

"He is learning." She replied in a shallow sigh, a hand rubbing along her arms.

"And your sons? They must be a year old by now." Gorgo said as she forced a small smile onto her lips.

"They're loud for so young." I allowed myself to laugh. The custom of Sparta was that the men slept within their barracks until the age of thirty, but being the son of the captain, Astinos could pull a few strings to my delight. Some nights he would sneak into my chamber and share my bed, others he would stay with the men. But I had never seen so much than in his eyes the moment that he saw his sons. Spartans were strong and proud, but no father can be emotionless to their children. Especially sons.

"M'lady." A familiar voice called from behind. Our svelte bodies turned to see the older soldier, Captain Artemis, rushing toward us in a fluster. "A Persian emissary awaits the king." He whispered into the ear of the queen before turning to give a nod in my direction. The king glanced in our direction as the two bodies collapsed to the floor with a smile on the younger.

"A man's strength is the man next to him. Remember that, son." Leonidas said as he raised to his feet, planting a peck onto the crown of his son. "What is it?"

"A Persian messenger." Gorgo announced. The king moving to her side with a hand resting upon her waist. They moved together, with my frame falling beside Artemis as we moved to meet the messenger from another land. Artemis was armed adequately with the proper Spartan blade at his waist. And unlike most women, I was armed too. Not because I was a warrior, but because Gorgo had requested it. I was her friend, and her guard on most occasions. I would attend her in her chamber if she needed it, but I would also escort her through the city streets is required. It was not an occupation that took up my time, more that I was there when she needed and ready for her call if I were elsewhere. I was lucky enough to have a step-mother who was happy to look after my sons.

The large doors opened out to allow Apollo's light to fill the surroundings of the king. Our eyes falling upon Theron, the councillor, with the emissary. Pompous, devious wretch.

All in the streets turned to catch a glimpse of the stranger. Women and children standing with beaded eyes whilst the soldiers showed an air of discomfort at his presence.

"My king and queen, I was just entertaining your guests." Councillor Theron muttered as his head bowed slightly. I hated this man. I hated everything which he stood for.

"Before you speak Persian know that in Sparta everyone, even a king's messenger, is held accountable for the words of his voice." Leonidas uttered. I found myself staring. Staring toward the guards of this man. All armed with a bow at their back and a blade at their hip. Not a blade like ours, but a curved blade

"Earth and water." The emissary replied in a monotonous voice. His frame bowed low to the king with arms stretched out. But his words old brought a laugh from the king.

"Do not be coy or stupid Persian, you can afford neither in Sparta." My queen snapped, eliciting a small smirk on my features whilst the emissary glared to her with fiery eyes.

"What makes this woman think that she can speak among men?" He growled. His eyes looking as if he would sooner strike her than bow to her. But she was my queen, and my friend. I would sooner have mounted him on a spear than allowed him to talk down to Gorgo.

"Because only Spartan women give birth to real men." Gorgo hissed with a look of victory on her face. I could hear the quiet laugh as it left the lips of her husband.

"Let us walk to cool our tongues." Leonidas quietly said. You could see the ponderful look upon his face as two columns began to walk through the crowded Spartan street.

"If you value your lives over your complete annihilation, listen carefully Leonidas. Xerxes conqures and controls everything he rests his eyes upon. He leads an army so massive, it shakes the ground with its march, so vast, it drinks the rivers dry." The emissary spoke highly of his king. But all around were pulling holes within his words. No army could be that large, could it? No man could successfully control an army of calibar. It would create havoc.

"All that God-king Xerxes requires is this: a simple offering of earth and water, a token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes."

I think everyone heard the gasp from within the Spartans. Submission? That was not the Spartan way, and never could it be. Submission is bending your knee to a ruler from half the world away. Submission is allowing your wives and children to become slaves within society. Submission is another king owning your lands and your armies. That was not the Spartan way.

"Submission." Our king repeated in a thoughtful tone. His wife, Gorgo, glancing to me with eyes ablaze with bury. "Now, that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it the Athenians have already turned you down." He taunted with pacing steps. "And if those philosophers and boy-lovers have found that kind of nerve then…"

"We must be diplomatic." Councillor Theron interrupted with a hand rested upon Leonidas' arm.

"And, of course, Spartans have their reputation to consider." Leonidas snapped, smacking away the hand of the councillor. I felt Gorgo's glance once more at the sound of the Persian's voice, with a hint of anger and disbelief bubbling in his features.

"Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king." The Persian snarled. All eyes moved to the king as all fingers took this as a threat and moved to the hilt of the blade. A threat to our king was a threat to Sparta. Our king took his time, his careful glance moving around as he stayed silent.

"Earth and water…" You could barely hear his whisper. And, within a second, his blade was drawn to the throat of the Persian. The soldiers behind us assigned themselves each to a Persian guard till one was left. Gorgo gently nudging me toward him with my blade raised to his throat. He was guided to the edge of the deep hole at the centre of Sparta. "You'll find plenty of both down there." Leonidas finished with his soldiers at his aid.

"No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens the messenger."

"You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death." The king shouted with rage in his voice. "I choose my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same."

"This is blasphemy. This is madness!" The emissary cried.

Leonidas stopped. His dark orbs glancing around to see his queen… Her head nodding.

"Madness?" Leonidas repeated with a small shake of his head. "This is Sparta!" He corrected in a growl. That was our order. My blade sliced down, cutting through the cloth and skin of the Persian before me then the flat of my foot smashed into his chest, sending him into the dark pit of the hole.


End file.
